According to a PTI report, the Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have banned the storage and sales of firecrackers. On September 14, he notified the retailers to stop the sale of firecrackers in an initiative to curb pollution. He prohibited the use of it during Diwali pertaining to rising pollution levels in the city.
पिछले 3 साल से दीवाली के समय दिल्ली के प्रदूषण की खतरनाक स्तिथि को देखते हुए पिछले साल की तरह इस बार भी हर प्रकार के पटाखों के भंडारण, बिक्री एवं उपयोग पर पूर्ण प्रतिबंध लगाया जा रहा है। जिससे लोगों की जिंदगी बचाई जा सके।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 15, 2021
He took to Twitter to notify people of the ill effects of burning crackers. He tweeted in Hindi: “Seeing the severe pollution levels in the national capital for the last three years during Diwali, a complete ban is being imposed on storage, sale and use of all types of firecrackers in Delhi this time, just like last year.”
“Last year, the ban was imposed after traders had already stored firecrackers for sale which had resulted in losses for them. I appeal to the traders to not stock up on firecrackers in view of the complete ban,” he added.
Earlier in November 2020, Kejriwal had levied a ban on firecrackers due to the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in the national capital. Rather he asked people to invest more in medical infrastructure and its development for a healthier and safer tomorrow. As per the statistics issued by the Central Pollution Control Board, a 30-day average score calculating the air quality index in Delhi resulted in 328 under the “very poor” category.
As per the scale, an AQI score between 0-50 is indicated to be “good”, 51-100 is a “satisfactory” rate, 101-200 is “moderate”, 201-300 falls under the “poor” slot, 301-400 is under “very poor”, and lastly 401-500 is the most alarming falling into the slab of “severe”.
